Monday, February 16, 2015

Brick's Picks: SNL Sketches

Sup. This is Brick. We had a big bash last night and watched the shitty but sorta ok SNL40 thing and we were all like "well fuck, there's no way in hell they're gonna play any of the sketches we liked the best." And we watched the whole thing and we were right. But that's ok, because we'll get to talk about them here. At least one of these has been posted on TMK already, but the Youtube took it down.

Here are the 10 best SNL sketches that no one ever talks about. They are among those that are typically cut from re-runs and will never be included in a "best of" special even though they're fucking amazing. For various reasons that only partially relate to "nostalgia from a our formative years" type bullshit, it just happened to work out that these are all from between 1989 and 2001. Sketches since 2001 are a lot fresher in people's minds, and plus this specific 12-year period seems to have included the most instances where insane/weirdo AdultSwim-esq humor was lost on many viewers.

#1 Schiller Visions: Hidden Camera Commercials (November 16, 1991)

Honestly, we would have never guessed what sketch this was simply based on the title. Turns out that Schiller was a writer for SNL during the first season, and was still around by the time Chris Farley was a cast member. Now that we're viewing the sketch outside of Farley's performance, it does kinda have the same feel as something that could feasibly have been a sketch during the late '70s. Unsurprisingly, this was aired during that episode's final 10 minutes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5aVzSDme4

#2 Crazy Doctor 2 (April 14, 2001)

It may be tough to remember times as distance as "way back in the '90s," but it took a few years before Will Ferrell gained widespread acceptance. He really had to work for it, partially because his first well-known recurring character was in the kinda overrated Spartans sketch with Cheri Oteri (although a few of Will's earlier roles such as in "Get off the shed" and "Ride the snake" were both pretty amazing). But it wasn't until around 2000 that it suddenly became "cool" to like Will Ferrell. A lot of people all at once suddenly were like, "ya know what? He actually is kinda funny." Not long afterwards, he had become so beloved that the producers started allowing his insane/nonsense skits to air within the "who gives a fuck" point of the show: 12:45-1:00AM (the quick span when the best and weirdest sketches typically get shown). Enter "Crazy Doctor," a.k.a. the greatest sketch ever.http://www.hulu.com/watch/284751

#3 Crazy Doctor (January 15, 2000)

We wrote about this sketch a few years back: http://tastemykidsblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/crazy-doctor-2.html We also lied because there was actually a very quick 2-second clip of this shown last night during the abysmal digital short with Andy Samberg and Adam Sandler, where they showed Molly Shannon breaking character and crackin' the fuck up. (By the way, we love Molly Shannon.) (And also we didn't realize that this was actually "Crazy Doctor 1" until literally 30 seconds ago.)http://www.hulu.com/watch/282630

#4 Bald Eagles (November 18, 2000)

It seems like SNL wants to disown this episode. We doubt that it was ever shown in re-runs on any channel, even though it was without question the most outrageous, surreal and borderline-subversive episode of SNL that probably ever happened. In the first actual sketch, Tom Green and Will Ferrell are dressed up as bald eagles who then jump into the audience and start putting their faces next to unsuspecting audience members, in areas of the room where cameras normally avoid.

#5 Lorne and Tom in a Tub (November 18, 2000)

A 3-part sketch where Tom Green and Lorne Michaels sit in a tub drinking juice boxes and discuss deep questions, like "Why do we hate?"http://www.hulu.com/watch/284738

#10 Outweek (November 14, 1992)

This isn't available for stream anywhere. Dana Carvey and Michael Keaton are flamboyant hosts of a show where they "line 'em up and just let 'em out." They "out" celebrities, for example Wilford Brimley who they outed as "absolutely queer." So far the sketch is kinda not bad. But then they're like "what do ya think, ump?" And then the camera cuts to Chris Farley in an umpires uniform who looks directly into the camera and screams "YOU'RE OUTTA THERRRE" until he's red in the face, which is approximately the moment when everyone loses their shit and falls on the floor dying.

Bonus Sketch: I Says To The Guy

Honorable Mention: Partridge Family vs. The Brady Bunch

Not eligible for the top 10 because its basis is formed around SNL's weakest crutch: celebrity impersonations. However, this instance is too good to deny. Literally every actor perfectly fit into their caricature: The best ones were Mike Myers as Bonaduche, Dana Carvey as David Cassidy, and Chris Farley as The Partridge Family's manager dude who suspiciously glares in the corner and eventually makes out with the mom to prove "I'll show ya who's daddy." It's possible that this was written by Melanie Hutsell who posted a dress rehearsal version of the sketch on her website: http://www.melaniehutsell.com/Melanie/__Melanie_Hutsell__Brady_BUnch.html

what's it?

TASTE MY KIDS compiles recommendations for a happier and healthier existence, most often in the form of "best-of" lists, youtube posts, album or movie reviews, and various scribblings. We lived on Geocities starting in August 2000. In January 2009, times got tough and posts were on hiatus until a new host could be located. Geocities eventually died anyway, and now we live on blogspot. True story.